From the NY Times... -andy
Literacy level falls for US college graduates
The average American college graduate's literacy in English declined
significantly over the past decade, according to results of a nationwide
test released yesterday. The National Assessment of Adult Literacy,
given in 2003 by the Department of Education, is the nation's most
important test of how well adult Americans can read. The test also found
steep declines in the English literacy of Hispanics in the United
States, and significant increases among blacks and Asians.
When the test was last administered, in 1992, 40 percent of the nation's
college graduates scored at the proficient level, meaning that they were
able to read lengthy, complex English texts and draw complicated
inferences. But on the 2003 test, only 31 percent of the graduates
demonstrated those high-level skills. There were 26.4 million college
graduates.
<snip>
Among blacks and Asians, English literacy increased from 1992 to 2003.
About 29 percent of blacks scored at either the intermediate or
proficient levels in 1992, but in 2003, those rose to 33 percent. The
percentage of blacks demonstrating "below basic" literacy declined to 24
percent from 30 percent. Asians scoring at either the intermediate or
proficient levels rose to 54 percent from 45 percent in 1992.
The same period saw big declines in Hispanics' English reading skills.
In 1992, 35 percent of Hispanics demonstrated "below basic" English
literacy, but by 2003 that segment had swelled to 44 percent. And at the
higher-performing end of the literacy scale, the proportion of Hispanics
demonstrating intermediate or proficient English skills dropped to 27
percent from 33 percent in 1992.
<snip>
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/16/education/16literacy.html
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Andy Carvin
Program Director
EDC Center for Media & Community
acarvin @ edc . org
http://www.digitaldivide.net
http://katrina05.blogspot.com
Blog: http://www.andycarvin.com
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